First Waltz
by Eiko Makimachi
Summary: Howl and Sophie were invited for a ball at the royal castle, but there is one problem: Howl doesn't know how to dance!
1. An invitation

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book.

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

Chapter 1: An invitation.

"Howl! Time to wake up!"

That was the first thing Howl heard before falling from his bed with a loud sound. The second thing was Markl complaining about something related to his breakfast. It was another normal day on the wizard's life and, like everyday, he was the last one to wake up.

Changing his clothes, Howl went downstairs to see what was going on there. He was so sleepy that he completely forgot that his raven hair was messed up. But that was just a detail that the wizard knew the others wouldn't mind.

Prepared to say a "Good morning everyone", the young man looked to the fireplace, where Calcifer usually stays when he is inside the castle. However, he didn't saw Sophie cooking, Markl and Grandma eating, Calcifer complaining nor Heen trying to save a piece of bacon for himself. Actually, he did saw all those things, but there were two differences. Firstly, Sophie wasn't cooking, she was in front of the door. Secondly, there was one more person in this scene. Someone that Howl didn't really know if he liked or not.

"Oh my, hello, Mr. Jenkins." Said Prince Justin, former Kabu head.

Howl just didn't say anything. He wished he had brushed his hair now, because the last thing he wanted was Prince Justin looking to the great wizard Howell Jenkins with sleepy face and messed hair.

Sophie turned back and said a quick "hi" to him. Sophie and Howl hadn't married yet, but Howl was planning on asking her hand soon. In fact, everyone thought they were a cute couple. Now that the war was over, the wizard decided it was safe enough for him to go out, although Sophie said that she would never let him walk alone in the streets, specially at the capital city. When Howl asked her why, the young woman just smiled and said "I don't want to loose you again".

But then, back to Prince Justin, Howl wondered why the prince was there. He knew that the old kabu head was still in love with his dear Sophie, and that's why he didn't know if he liked him or not. Even if Sophie was the prince's true love, Howl knew that she was his true love too, and he wouldn't let anyone steal her from him.

"I'm so sorry for waking you up, Mr. Howl." Continued the prince. "But I would like to invite you two for a commemoration at the royal palace. I has been one month since the end of the war, and the king decided that there is going to be a ball next week to commemorate the end of the war."

Before Howl could say anything, Sophie replied. "It will be a pleasure to go, Kabu."

Prince Justin smile. He kissed Sophie's hand. "I am glad that you accepted my invitation, dear Sophie. I must go now, but I shall see you again in the ball."

The prince left the moving castle, leaving a cheerful Sophie and a really shocked Howl looking at the place where he was some minutes ago. Calcifer was laughing from his fireplace and Markl was helping Granma with the dishes.

After some minutes of silence, Howl finally spoke. "Sophie, there is one problem about this ball."

"A problem?" asked Sophie, looking to him.

"Yes, a big problem." Said Howl.

Calcifer stopped laughing. "Sophie, didn't Howl told you that?"

Sophie, more confused than ever, looked to Howl, who was almost melting like the day when his hair changed from blond to red, then from red to black.

"What haven't you told me, Howell Jenkins!" asked Sophie.

Howl looked to his love with child-like eyes.

"Sophie, I don't know how to dance!"

------

"Wait, you... don't know how to.. dance?" asked Sophie, astonished, trying not to laugh.

The wizard sat down on the floor and curled himself into a ball. It was a cute scene, a young man acting like a poor child who is afraid of darkness.

"It's not funny..." he managed to say.

"But... Howl, from all the things... you don't know how to dance?" exclaimed Sophie.

"Howl had been so busy with magic and war that the last time he tried to dance was when he was only 8 years old I think." Said Calcifer.

Howl was still curled in a corner, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Markl tried to cheer him up, saying that a man should never hide from his problems. But then Grandma reminded everyone that deep inside Howl was just as childish as Markl, sometimes even more childish.

"Aw, Howl, that's the only problem you have?" said Sophie, hugging the wizard softly. "Come on, stand up!"

"Will you... will you stop... laughing at me?" murmured Howl shyly.

"Well, if you continue acting like a baby, I can't promise anything." Said Sophie.

The wizard pouted. " Sophie!"

"Just kidding!" She smiled to him, helping him to stand up.

"But... Sophie, how do you want me to go with you to that prince's ball? Are you sure that kabu head didn't do that on purpose so he could dance with you?"

Sophie laughed again. "Howl, how could Kabu know about that? I mean, only Calcifer and Markl knew that."

"Madam Sulliman knows it too. She could tell Kabu about that." Murmured him.

Sophie always forgot that Madam Sulliman, the royal wizard, was Howl's teacher and former master. She never liked the old woman since the day she met her disguised as Howl's mother. The girl looked to Heen, who was jumping happily, trying to catch a ball that Markl was holding. How could have Heen lived all this time with Madam Sulliman was a mystery to Sophie.

"I don't think your teacher would spend her time telling Kabu things about you." Said Sophie.

Deep inside, Howl thought that Madam Sulliman would love to tell the others something that could embarrass him. Although he was her best student, he knew that his contract with Calcifer was something against his teacher's ideals, and since then he bet she started to dislike him.

"Let's forget about Kabu and Madam Sulliman. If we have only one week to learn it, then it's better to start now!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Learn what?" asked a curious Howl.

"Dancing, of course, Howl!" she answered, grabbing Howl towards the magic door. She switched the color-coded switch so they could go to Howl's childhood home. The great field was like a colorful carpet with flowers and butterflies, it was the perfect place for them to dance.

Howl, still confused about the sudden decision of the girl, looked as they passed by the door and reached the flowered field. Suddenly, he felt Sophie grabbing one of his hands.

"So, let's try learning to correct position, okay?" she said, putting one arm on his shoulder and grabbing his other hand. "You put that hand around my waist. Yes, that's right, Howl."

Sophie guided him slowly, noticing that Howl didn't know if he had to look down to see if his feet were correctly positioned or to Sophie. She giggled.

"Howl, you can look down for now, but you must try dancing looking at me, not to the ground."

"Ah... but... Sophie... that's too hard!" said Howl. "I'm going to step on your own foot if I don't look down, I'm sure of it."

"No, you won't. If you are able to walk with me in the middle of the sky without looking down you must be able to dance too!" she said, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her directly.

"But... Sophie!"

They started again to dance slowly. Howl didn't step on Sophie's feet anytime, but he surely was having difficulties at following her while dancing. But he was trying hard, she knew it, because soon he managed to follow some steps.

"That's it, Howl! You did it!" Sophie shouted. She was so happy that the wizard managed to learn some steps that she glomped him. Howl, caught by surprise, lost his balance and fell forward.

Covered with flower petals on his hair, he looked to Sophie, who was giggling. He couldn't help but smile and laugh together, while they made their way back to the moving castle.

------

Looking to the dark sky of night, Madam Sulliman was drinking her tea when suddenly a young boy with short straight blond hair and blue eyes announced the presence of Prince Justin.

The servant, who was the exact copy of Howl when he was a child, left, leaving the prince and the wizard alone.

"So, have you invited that girl and Howl?" she asked calmly.

"Yes, I did." The prince replied.

"Did you know that Howl doesn't know how to dance?" the wizard asked.

The prince opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again. He didn't know that! He always thought that wizards could do anything, with their magic and all.

Madam Sulliman smiled. "That's your chance to dance with that girl again."

Prince Justin smiled a little at the thought of dancing with his beloved Sophie. But he was afraid of Howl's anger and he didn't want to turn into a scarecrow again. Even so, it wasn't fair with Howl, he knew that the eccentric wizard was in love with Sophie too.

"I know that you are still in love with that girl. Maybe you can gain her heart in this ball." Sulliman spoke again.

"But... Howl..."

"Howl is just a child trapped inside an adult body. Sophie will be happier with you, a true gentleman, rather then with my stupid apprentice."

The young man considered her words. He couldn't deny that he never liked the fact that Sophie was living inside a magic castle with a weird wizard, an ex-witch, a fire demon, a boy and a dog. If it were another girl, he knew that she would never live in a place like that.

"No, I can't do that. She loves him." The prince finally said.

"You can change people's opinion."

"Again, it's not fair. Besides, Howl will transform me into a scarecrow again if I steal Sophie from him." He finished, leaving Madam Sulliman alone.

The great wizard stood up. One of her servants appeared again, helping the old woman to make her way to bed.

"I'm surrounded by fools, don't you think, my dear?" she asked to her servant.

The blond boy just said. "Yes, Madam."

Author's note: Forgive me for any OCC. This chapter was quite short,I'll try to put more action on the next chapter. I don't have any beta reader for now, so any spelling, typing and grammar mistakes, sorry. I did made some spell checking, but it can have some mistakes that I didn't find while doing it. I'm having problems with uploader, it's "eating" the space I did between the title and this author note.


	2. Buying clothes

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 2: Buying clothes

----

"Sophie, why are we going to the town? Don't we have to continue practicing?"

Howl followed Sophie through the narrow streets of the sea side city. They hadn't had breakfast, he was starving and he couldn't help but feel that Sophie wasn't really pleased to walk outside with him.

"Did I do something wrong, Sophie?" he asked.

The young woman stopped, stunned by his question. "No, Howl? Why?"

The wizard blushed a little, looking to her. "I don't know... you aren't really pleased when you are walking with me in the city."

When he finished this sentence a group of young girls walked by and waved to them. He replied without any emotion, still waiting for Sophie's answer. She, on the other hand, looked angrily to the group and grabbed Howl's arm, continuing their way.

"It's not you. It's them." She finally said.

Howl didn't understand. "I beg your pardon?"

"They weren't waving to us, they were waving to you!" Sophie spoke sharply. "They seem to ignore that I'm with you. Look at your back to see that I'm telling the truth."

The wizard obeyed and turned back. To his surprise, the girls were still there, looking to them. When he stared at the group, they all started to giggle and continued their way. One of the girls caught his attention. She was giggling and shouting "Oh my God, he looked at us!"

He blushed and looked back to Sophie, whose face was red too, angry with the girl's group.

"Sophie, you don't need to be jealous of them. You know that I only have eyes to you." Howl said, still blushing.

"I know, I only have eyes to you too. But they still upset me." She finally stated, grabbing his hand once again and continuing their way.

----

The little outfit shop was full of elegant ladies and gentlemen due to the royal ball. Howl never went to a store, he always asked to Markl to buy him food, clothes and other essential things. Now he felt pity of the young boy, the shop was a chaos! Wives yelling to their husbands, husbands yelling to their wives. He asked to Sophie if her hat store was like that, but she didn't answer. It seemed that she too was surprised by the number of people inside the shop.

"Not even the hat store was like that." She murmured, trying to find a way to go inside the shop.

"Why are we here anyway?" asked Howl.

"We need new clothes for the ball. We both don't have evening dresses."

The wizard had forgotten that detail. He did have formal clothes, but none for royal events. Neither did Sophie.

"How are we going to get into that mess?" she asked.

Howl looked to the top of the shop. "Hum... they must have a door on the back of the store."

"Yes, but... Howl!"

Without waiting for her answer, Howl grabbed her hand and jumped. Like the first time they had met, when Sophie didn't know who he was, they flew up to the sky. They never did it again since then, but it looked like Howl really enjoyed walking on air, because he smiled.

"Well, let's try the other door so."

He stepped forward, walking along with Sophie, who hugged him to not fall. He smiled to her, as if he was saying to not worry. She looked down, wondering how people didn't notice a couple walking on the sky.

As they finally arrived to the back side of the store, she noticed that Howl was right. There was an opened door there, she could see the attendants carrying dresses, hats, ties and shoes. One of them noticed the couple looking outside and waved to them.

"What are you two doing there!"

"Hum... the front door is blocked by people." Said Howl.

The attendant smiled. "Oh I see. Well, come in!" She said.

Sophie and Howl went into the small shop. It was full of different dresses, red, blue, long, short. There was even a bride dress in the middle of the store, all white and decorated with white flowers. For the men, Howl noticed different kinds of top hat, ties and shoes.

They decided to look after Sophie's dress first. She wanted something that wasn't blue, since most of her dresses were blue or green. Finally, she decided to try out a white dress with lavender tones, with light pink ribbons on each sleeve. It was a cute dress in Howl's opinion. As for shoes, she picked white ones.

While waiting for her, the wizard sat down on a chair, wondering what Sophie would choose for him to wear.

"Ah, I'll choose what you are going to wear, so you don't have to worry about it." She had said, before living the castle.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by a chubby man with grayish moustache who was next to him.

"Excuse me, young lady." He said.

"Er..., I'm sorry, sir, but I am a man." Howl said, trying to hold his temper. Calcifer always said that Howl should stop wearing earrings or cut his hair, otherwise people would mistake him for a tomboyish girl who wears boy's clothes. Whenever Calcifer mentioned that the wizard just ignored the fire demon and continued his way.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, young lad." Said the chubby man, embarrassed. "It's just that..."

"I know, I wear earrings and I'm really thin. I've heard that already from other people." Howl completed the man's sentence.

"I'm really sorry, please, accept my apologies."

"Apologies for what?" Sophie suddenly asked, already dressing the dress she had chosen.

Howl blushed. "Ah, for nothing, my dear. I explain it later."

"Hum... okay." Sophie said, still curious about what happened there. "So, what do you think?"

"You are perfect with this dress." Howl said, smiling.

"Really?" Sophie said, blushing at the compliment.

"Of course. Why would I lie to you, Sophie?"

The girl smiled. "So, let's get something for you, Howl!"

----

The couple looked to thousands of suits, bow ties, top hats, but most of them were just brown or gray. The wizard refused to wear brown, and Sophie was decided to find something that fitted the stubborn young lad. Howl was almost giving up when she grabbed his hands and pointed to a singular outfit.

It was a black suit, with black trousers. There was a white long-sleeved shirt and red bow, to complete the outfit set.

"Oh my, what do you think, Howl?"

It was better than the brown ones, he thought. In fact, even he liked the black outfit. From all the colors he knew, he definitely disliked brown, red and orange. When his hair color changed to orange due to Sophie's "Spring cleaning", he almost had a heart attack. He was glad that it turned into black after.

----

"Oh, Howl, you are perfect like that!"

Howl was wearing the black evening dress. He was kind of embarrassed, noticing that there were some people looking to him. Sophie seemed to ignore the girls' whisperings and helped the wizard with his top hat.

"You know, you are more elegant with the top hat than Kabu head."

Just the thought of Prince Justin's yellow outfit made Howl smile. Anyone could be more elegant then a man with yellow top hat, red bow tie and yellow suit.

"At least it's discreet." He joked.

At the other side of the town, Prince Justin sneezed. He was having tea with the King as always, when suddenly he felt like sneezing.

"Everything is right, Prince Justin?" the King asked gently.

"Yes, yes, your highness." The prince excused himself. He knew that far away someone was talking about him.

Back to Howl and Sophie, the couple finally bought the clothes and made their way back to the Castle. It was almost midday and Sophie knew that Markl, Grandma and Heen probably were hungry. However, the only one who was really starving was Howl, who wasn't feeling very well.

"Sophie, can we just... I don't know, fly, or use magic to go back to Castle."

"Why, Howl?"

The wizard blushed. "Well, huh, you know, I haven't eaten breakfast, and last night I didn't have dinner because I was busy reading a book so..."

"What! Howl! You haven't eaten since then?" Sophie exclaimed.

"No."

"Oh my God, Howl, you really behave like a child sometimes. Grandma is right."

"Hey!"

Sophie giggled and hugged Howl.

"Okay, we can fly our way home. But only today." She said, smiling.

Smiling too, Howl let go of Sophie's hug and guided her to an alley. Once again, they jumped and stopped in midair. However, unlike the other times, they didn't walk, they actually flew like birds towards the castle. Sophie was stunned by the wonderful sensation of flying, it was far better than the sensation of walking between the clouds.

"It's faster and more interesting to fly, instead of just walking." Howl commented. "Don't you agree?"

Looking down, wondering if people weren't talking about two strange giant birds flying over their heads, Sophie just answered quickly. "Yes."

Howl laughed.

"But don't do that all the time, I still think it is safer to just walk."

"Aw, Sophie, you just spoiled the whole fun."

Both of them started to laugh, enjoying the pleasant flight. Some pigeons joined them, and a single dove guided everyone to the plains where the magic castle was fixed. Sophie suspected that the pigeons were actually a kind of spell made by Howl, but when the two of them landed next to the main door of the castle, the little birds continued their way, instead of disappearing.

As they opened the door, they found Grandma sleeping with Heen, next to the fireplace. Calcifer was complaining about Howl and Sophie being late, while Markl was reading a book.

"Hello everyone." Howl finally said.

"Oh, goodness, I'm hungry! Howl, why were you so late?" said Calcifer.

The wizard chuckled. "Oh, really? If you are hungry, I'm starving! Let's have lunch so."

Before going back, Sophie and Howl had gone to a groceries' shop and bought eggs, bread, a cake and sorted vegetables. Howl asked Calcifer to cooperate and help him with the cooking.

Suddenly, Sophie stopped putting the packages on the table. "Oh, Howl, you forgot to tell me what happened back in the outfit shop."

His cheeks went red. Calcifer looked curiously to him, wondering too what happened when they were out for shopping. Markl ignored it and woke up Grandma so she could have lunch too.

"Sophie, it's something really... complicated, so I would rather tell you everything after lunch."

------

Author's note: Okay, so maybe this chapter isn't longer than the first one. Thanks everyone who reviewed it, and I hope I'm not doing too OCC characters. I'm trying to do a better spelling and grammar checking on this chapter, but I can't promise anything. Just to let everyone know, it will take a while for me to do chapter 3.

Ah, about the sneezing thing. It's something from Japanese folk knowledge. If you sneeze for no reason, it is believed that it is a sign that someone is talking about you and telling bad things about you when you are not there.


	3. Evil and weird plan of Madam Sulliman

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 3: The evil and weird plan of Madam Sulliman

----

"I still don't get how people mistake you for a girl. You don't look like one."

Howl finally explained the little incident in the shop for Sophie. He definitely didn't look like a girl, at least that was what he always thought. However, he knew that he wasn't the most perfect gentleman of the world. All men were supposed to wear suits and hats, have short hair and a walking stick. Another detail that was out of the normal man's outfit were his earrings. To sum up, he would be what people call "eccentric".

They had just finished having lunch when someone knocked the door. Everyone looked stunned to the door, no one was expecting someone to go visit Jenkins' wizardry shop at 2 o'clock.

Howl opened the door and found a rather tired Prince Justin. It seemed that the prince was also very worried. However, he smiled as always to the wizard.

"Sorry to bother you again, Mr. Jenkins. I wanted to talk with Sophie for a moment."

Howl looked suspiciously to him, but allowed the prince to go inside the moving castle. Sophie went to the kitchen to make some tea, leaving Howl and Prince Justin alone in a small room.

"So, why did you want to see us?"

"Huh... ah, you do not need to be jealous, I am not going to steal Sophie from you." Said Prince Justin, ignoring Howl's eye twitching.

"I wasn't thinking about that." Said the wizard.

"I was just joking, sorry. Anyway, it will not take much time."

Sophie went inside five minutes after, with tea and some cookies. Markl followed her, with Heen.

"Mr. Howl, you were supposed to be teaching me the new spell!" said Markl.

"Oh, I have completely forgotten this! I'm sorry, Markl." Said Howl. "Prince Justin, sorry for leaving..."

"Oh, do not worry about that, Mr. Jenkins."

------

"Well, Sophie, the problem is Howl's teacher, Madam Sulliman." Started the prince.

"What is the problem with Madam Sulliman?" asked Sophie.

"She... still doesn't like Howl much." Said Prince Justin.

Howl was outside, teaching Markl a new spell on the kitchen. He wished he could be inside that room, not because he was jealous, but he was quite curious about what they were talking about.

"She doesn't want him to be happy. And..." said the prince.

"And..." said Sophie.

"She wants to force me to dance with you. It's part of a charming spell, that would make you fall in love with me and forget about Howl. "

Sophie stared at Prince Justin, not believing on what she had just heard. She knew that Madam Sulliman was a bid weird, but did she hate Howl so much that she would dare to separated him from Sophie?

"How come she is forcing you, Kabu?"

"She said that if she doesn't see me dancing with you, she will transform me into a scarecrow again."

"But then, all we have to do is to..."

"No, it is a different spell, a kiss won't be the solution anymore."

"But that... is terrible!" exclaimed Sophie. "You should have told Howl about this!"

"I was too afraid! Howl doesn't like me very much."

Sophie let a small giggle come out. "Howl would never do something bad to you. I think we should discuss it all together."

"Are you sure, Sophie?" said Prince Justin.

Going outside the room, Sophie was caught by a flash of bluish light. It came from the kitchen. Worried, she went there, but fortunately the light was just part of the spell Markl had just managed to learn.

"Look, Sophie! Now I can make things float!" Markl said, touching a book.

The blue book that was touched by the boy started to float over the table, but after some minutes it fell again. Howl laughed, saying to Markl that he still had to practice a little bit more. The boy nodded, leaving the couple in the kitchen to play outside.

"Howl, we must talk about something really serious." Said Sophie, guiding the wizard to the room where the prince was still waiting.

Howl didn't understand what was happening. Sophie was rather serious, but she was still smiling beautifully as always. Inside the room, he found Prince Justin sitting on one of the armchairs, looking a bit ill.

"Kabu has a delicate problem, Howl, and that involves us as well." Murmured Sophie.

"Us?" wondered Howl.

"Yes. You see, Madam Sulliman planned something against you." Said Prince Justin.

"She wants to destroy you by separating me from you, so you will be extremely unhappy." Said Sophie.

"In other words, she wants to destroy you mentally." Explained the prince.

Howl took a while to register everything they had just told him. Sitting on the green sofa next to Justin, he looked to the prince.

"How come she will separate us? She wants to kill one of us, or both?" asked Howl, worried.

"No. She doesn't want damage to anyone, besides you." Said Justin. "No, her plan is far worse."

The wizard was asking if there was something worse than that to himself when Sophie sat on the green sofa and held his left hand.

"She is forcing Kabu to steal me from you. " Said Sophie, sad.

For a moment Howl didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or transform the prince into a scarecrow again himself. But then, thinking again about what Sophie said, if Justin wanted to steal Sophie's heart, he wouldn't be saying all those things. Plus, Howl didn't think that the former Kabu head was so stupid to do such thing. After all, the wizard did have power enough to transform him into anything, even kill him.

"Howl, darling, are you okay?"

Hearing Sophie's voice calling him brought him back to reality. Shaking his head softly, he asked how Madam Sulliman was forcing Prince Justin to follow her plan.

"She said she was going to cast another spell on me, transforming me into a scarecrow again, if she doesn't see me dancing with Sophie on the ball. And it is not the same spell cast before, it is a stronger one."

"What dancing has to do with all this?"

"It's part of a spell she is going to cast that day. It would make Sophie fall in love with the person she is dancing with."

"Why don't we try to use a protection spell? So you won't turn into a scarecrow." said Howl.

"She warned me to not ask help for you." The prince said. "When I asked why, she simply told me that you could not help, even if you wanted to."

That confused both Howl and Sophie. "By that she meant that I couldn't use a proper protection spell against her own magic?" asked Howl.

"I think so."

The wizard stood up and started to walk in circles, trying to find another solution. His mind seemed to be blocked with dense mist, he couldn't find it. A love spell can't be blocked, it can only be removed. However, Howl knew that if it was Sulliman's spell, it's better to avoid it rather than try to remove it.

"I don't see anything I can do, besides... Wait, Sophie, you have a sister, don't you?" asked Howl.

"Huh, yes, Lettie, but what does she...?"

"Is she going to the ball?"

"I don't think so." Said Sophie. "She doesn't know anyone from the royalty."

"What if Prince Justin 'accidentally fall in love' with another young woman? I bet she is forcing you to do this because you are the only one that she knows that haven't found a girl to go to the ball with you."

"I don't think it will work." Said Prince Justin alarmed. "She will transform me into a scarecrow anyway."

Howl and Sophie were still trying to find a good solution to their problem. That's when Sophie smiled and stood up quickly.

"I think we should introduce Kabu to Lettie and then we can convince her to go to the ball."

"But that was my original plan." Said Howl.

Sophie giggled a little. "Yes, but what if you use a switching spell?"

Prince Justin looked to her with wide-opened eyes." Switching spell?"

"It's a quite hard spell that consists on changing the appearance of two people." Said Howl. "So, Sophie, what you are trying to say is that..."

"All we have to do is to cast this spell on Lettie and me, so I'll become Lettie and Lettie will become me."

It was a good plan, the prince thought. However, while listening to Sophie's plan, he started to worry about something. Wouldn't Madam Sulliman be powerful and smart enough to find out about the spell? He hoped Howl had a way to make this spell impossible to be noticed.

"But the only problem is that Lettie will fall in love with him." Said Howl.

Good, another problem, thought the prince again. He didn't even know who was Lettie.

"Oh, I bet she will like him." Said Sophie. "Her Prince Charming is someone who is kind, polite and somehow royal."

Howl tried to not laugh. It was the perfect description of Prince Justin, he was way too polite and, after all, he was a prince, so he was royal.

"And what if Madam Sulliman finds out about the switching spell? It will wear-off after some days."

"She can't use the love spell twice in the same person, its kind off dangerous." Said Howl. "She knows that and she won't use it again on you. If she fails, she won't be able to use you again and she will probably leave you alone. I think you should disappear for a while until she forgets about the whole thing."

Prince Justin agreed about that. He couldn't disappear right now, because everyone would notice his sudden absence, but after the ball he could tell the King that he was going to travel and go to somewhere far from Kingsbury and Porthaven.

"You can go to Wales if you want." Said Howl. "I used to live there when I was a child."

Sophie remembered about Calcifer saying that Howl came from a foreign country. She also remembered going to there when she turned the door switch to black, at the time she was trying to save Howl from dying. However, she never thought of asking to the wizard the name of the country. When she heard that he used to live in Wales, the first thing that crossed her mind was 'Oh my, Howl's boyhood country is very far from here!'.

"Wales?" said Prince Justin. "I have already been there before, it is a very nice country."

"So, everyone agrees with the plan?" asked Howl.

Everyone nodded.

"We shall start our plan tomorrow. Kabu... Oh, I still call you that, sorry..." said Sophie.

"You can call me of anything you like, Sophie." Said the prince kindly.

"Howl and I were supposed to visit Lettie tomorrow anyway. Why don't you come with us, so you can meet her?"

Howl coughed. "I didn't know we were going to visit your sister."

"She is quite curious to see the 'handsome wizard' that 'stole' my heart." Sophie said, kidding.

"I shall go with you tomorrow to see your lovely sister, dear Sophie. But I am afraid that I must return to the palace." Said Prince Justin.

When the prince left the castle, Howl sat down lazily on the chair next to Calcifer's fireplace. Looking to the fire demon complaining about 'being hungry', the wizard gave a log of wood to him and laughed.

"I do hope your sister like that prince. Because the way he speaks makes me sick."

--------

Author's note: Finally I did a long chapter! Sorry for not updating in a long time, I was with writing block. But then I started to read Howl's Moving Castle book (yes, I finally got to myself a volume of the original book!) and then the idea for this chapter appeared. My Word's spell and grammar checking is weird, so forgive me for any mistakes. Unfortunately, I only had time to read again this chapter once, so probably there are some mistake in it.

This chapter is a bit serious, I know, but next one will be more light and funny.


	4. Meeting Lettie

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 4: Meeting Lettie

----

"Howl! We are late!"

The wizard jumped literally from his bed and almost hit his head on a pile of books that he had left on his bed. Before starting doing anything, he made a mental note for himself to remind putting the books he reads on the shelf.

It was sunny outside, so he didn't bother to get a coat, but Sophie, who was ready to live the castle, was holding a blue umbrella.

"Can I eat something before? I'm not going to starve again outside." Said Howl, taking an apple.

"Do it quickly so! The bakery will be full of people soon, and I don't want to fly again to visit my own sister!" said Sophie impatiently.

"Why are you taking an umbrella?" he asked.

"The sun is too strong today."

Finishing his apple, Howl threw the rest of it to Calcifer, who "ate" it instantly. The fire demon seemed to like it, so Markl gave another apple to him.

"Is there something that Calcifer doesn't eat?" asked Sophie.

"Well, he doesn't drink anything." Howl said.

_Now I know why they don't have a trash can in the kitchen._ Thought Sophie.

Howl changed the color of the door switch so they could go to Market Chipping. Sophie still found unusual the fact that the castle door was located exactly where her family's old hat shop used to be. Now the store was only a normal house, looking from the outside.

The street was quite calm at that time. There were a few children with their mothers, playing. Young men with plain clothes were chatting near the hat shop and some dogs were chasing a small, black cat.

Sophie opened her blue umbrella. Howl seemed to not care about the sun and followed her. As they approached the Cesary's bakery, they relieved that there weren't lots of people trying to buy cakes just to see Lettie. However, it seemed that Prince Justin wasn't there.

Lettie, who was taking care of a box full of creamy strawberry cakes, was really anxious to see Sophie. She hadn't seen her for a long time, and since the day she had heard that Sophie was seen with that mysterious wizard, she was afraid that it could be Howl. Although she knew that the King trusted him, most people in Market Chipping simply refused to believe that a wizard could be a good person.

She had never seen Wizard Howl before, but everyone knew that he was a young, tall man, with shoulder length straight hair and used to wear earrings.

"Lettie?" someone familiar called her.

She left the box she was carrying on the floor and run to outside. There she was, her dear sister Sophie. She noticed that she seemed to be happier now, but she also noticed other strange things.

She noticed that Sophie's hair was short and silver now. It suited her, Lettie thought, although silver was a very unusual color for hair. But then she froze when she saw who was the handsome man that came with Sophie.

It was really beautiful young man with green eyes. His shoulder length hair was straight and black. He was quite tall, specially now that he was wearing boots. But Lettie noticed that he was wearing green earrings, and that really caught her attention.

"You... you are...?"

"Hi, Lettie!" Sophie said cheerfully. " This is Howell Jenkins and..." but she was interrupted by Lettie who threw an empty cake box on Howl.

"Leave my poor sister alone, you... you... your bad wizard!" said Lettie. "You won't take her heart with you!"

Howl was hit by the empty box, a pie, a cake and another empty box. Sophie was too shocked to do something, and Howl was too dizzy with the sudden attack to avoid the others.

"Stop, Lettie, he is not bad!" Sophie managed to say.

"Someone help me..." moaned Howl.

"But Sophie, that's Wizard Howl!" Lettie said.

"I know that! But he is a kindhearted person, he is not bad!" Sophie said, while helping Howl.

"Argh... I think I won't eat pies and cakes for a long time..." said Howl.

Lettie stopped her attack. "Sophie, he eats the heart of young women! He is going to eat yours!"

"He doesn't! He..." but Sophie was interrupted by Howl, who had recovered from the attack.

"Let me explain, Sophie." He said.

Walking towards Lettie, he didn't notice that Sophie's sister was moving backwards, probably too afraid of him. Still, he stopped when she hit the bakery's balcony. He was only a few centimeters from her and Lettie was so scared that she didn't have courage enough to do something.

To her surprise, he just gave a big smile, like the one children usually gave to her when they were talking to her cheerfully. He looked like a very innocent, playful teenager, looking like that to her.

"First of all, I don't eat hearts. That's a big lie." Howl said. "One thing is to steal the heart of silly girls that fall in love with me. It's not my fault that they have got heartbroken after."

_It is, kind off._ Thought Sophie. But at that time he didn't have a heart, so he couldn't fall in love, even if he wanted to.

"Secondly, I love Sophie. If it hadn't been her, I would have remained heartless and I would probably be dead right now." He said, looking a bit serious. "I wouldn't dare to hurt her in any circumstances."

He turned his back to Lettie and returned to where he was initially, next to Sophie. Lettie was still confused. Suddenly, she turned back to reality, when she saw another young man inside the store.

"Good morning."

--------

Another tall, handsome man was looking to her. Lettie felt her cheeks burning a little. He was wearing yellow outfit, with red bow tie and yellow top hat. He was taller than Howl for a few centimeters, and he looked a bit older as well.

"Good morning, dear Sophie and Howl." He said.

Sophie smiled gently. "Good morning, ah... Prince Justin."

Lettie froze. It was Prince Justin! She had never seen him before, and now he was right there, shaking hands with Howl and saying good morning to her sister. Lettie always wondered who was him. She was nervous and embarrassed, she didn't know what to do.

"Prince Justin, I would like to introduce Lettie, my sister." Said Sophie.

"It is a pleasure to meet such a beautiful young woman." He said, taking one of Lettie's hands and kissing it formally. Lettie blushed furiously.

"N...nice to meet you." Was all she managed to say.

"Sorry for the being late. Market Chipping is quite far, isn't it?" he said to Howl.

"Yes, yet you have arrived quite early! Did you come by carriage?" Howl said.

"No, by train." Said Prince Justin.

"Well, now that everyone is here, I think we should explain why we are here, Sophie." Howl murmured.

"Oh yes." Sophie said. "Lettie, come with me, there is something I must ask to you."

-----

"Sophie, I won't marry a man that I've just met! I might be a bit desperate to find my love, but that doesn't mean I'm going to marry with anyone, not even a prince!"

The two girls were discussing about the plan. Even if her sister day-dreamed about her prince charming, Sophie knew deep inside that Lettie wouldn't accept arranged marriage, she was too stubborn and strong-minded. Much like herself, Sophie thought.

Outside, Howl and Prince Justin heard Lettie's yells and sighed.

"I told you. It was a weird plan." Said Prince Justin.

"No, you didn't." said Howl. "And if you have any other good idea, feel free to tell us."

"Unfortunately, I do not have."

_The way he talks still annoys me_, thought Howl with a smirk. He was busy, trying to find a solution for the whole problem. However, he thought, if that prince continued to act as a superior human being Howl would prefer to go to the ball with Sophie and see him transformed into a scarecrow.

Then, something crossed his mind. What if he and the prince switched bodies? Of course the original spell is very weak and he knew that his former wizard teacher would notice the spell, but he had been studying a stronger version of this spell. If cast correctly, Madam Sulliman wouldn't notice any difference. He, disguised as Prince Justin, would dance with Sophie. The love spell would be cast on him, not on the real prince.

The problem was the spell. It was a very complicated spell. If it was cast wrongly, he didn't know what could happen.

Inside, Sophie convinced Lettie to at least go with them for a walk, so she could know a little bit more about Prince Justin. At first Lettie refused, saying that she couldn't leave the bakery, but it seemed that there were more attendants in the store than customers. Asking another girl to take care of the place while she was out, she decided to go outside and have lunch with Sophie.

"But where are we going to have lunch, Sophie?" she asked, curious.

"Well, Howl and I usually have lunch at home." Said Sophie in reply.

"Home?"

"Yes, the Moving Castle."

"W-wait, the Moving Castle? I haven't seen it for months! I thought it had disappeared!" said Lettie, pointing to the blue sky. "It was easy to find it, it spilled black smoke all the time."

Sophie giggled and guided Lettie to outside. Howl and Prince Justin were still waiting in silence for their return, Howl refusing to face the prince.

"Howl, dear, Lettie is going to have lunch with us. Ah, and Prince Justin is invited as well." Sophie said, smiling to the prince.

Hearing that, Howl jumped in surprise. "W-what? Lunch? The two of them?"

"Yes." She replied, still smiling.

"Oh my, so the two will have to wait for a while. We don't have food enough for 6 people plus Heen." Howl said, sighing. "I'll go shop, you three can return to the castle."

"But, Howl, I can do..."

Howl just placed a hand on Sophie's head and smiled gently. "Don't worry. Just go with your sister and I do the rest."

-----

Sophie guided the prince and her sister to her former hat shop. Lettie was quite confused, looking to the small house with flowers. She was going to open her mouth to ask about what Sophie wanted to do there when her older sister opened the door and went inside.

"Well, Prince Justin, you probably know the Porthaven's and Kingsburry's portals already."

"Of course. So this one is the portal that goes to Market Chipping." Said the prince.

Lettie was still confused. They were talking about strange things, like portals for the Moving Castle.

"Ah, sorry, Lettie, I think I must explain you some things."

"You have to explain me lots of things, Sophie." Said Lettie.

"Well, this is a portal for the Moving Castle. Instead of going inside our old hat shop, you will go inside Howl's castle." Sophie explained, guiding Lettie to the portal.

Lettie Hatter couldn't believe on what had just happened. She passed through the wooden door of Hatter's former hat store, but instead of the entrance hall of it, she saw a very small kitchen, a very old lady sitting next to the fire place, sleeping, a boy looking at her curiously and a dog barking at the visitors. And, for her surprise, in front of the old lady, there was a fire place with a ball of fire with eyes and mouth.

"Ah, you are back, Sophie? Who are they? Where is Howl?" Calcifer asked quickly.

"Explain... lots... things... Sophie." was all she said before fainting.

-----

Author's note: Forgot to warn everyone: Madam Sulliman is a bit OCC is this story. For those who have watched the movie, she is not angry with Howl anymore in the end, but I decided to make her the "villain" of this fanfic.

It is hard to write something with Lettie, I really don't remember much of her personality in the movie, just in the book. I think I'm going to rewrite this chapter if I have the opportunity for it.

Sorry for this chapter, I know it isn't good. I've got a cold, I've been feeling very sleepy lately, so forgive me for any stupid mistakes.


	5. In which Howl gets in trouble

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 5: In which Howl gets in trouble

-----

The Market was very crowded and Howl was having a hard time to walk from one grocery to the other. He wished he could use magic there, but he knew that Sophie would disapprove that. He had already bought vegetables, fruits and some bread, but he still had to buy milk, tea and cheese.

While complaining about the sun on his head the wizard accidentally bumped into a girl and her mother. The young lady lost her balance and feel on the floor, to Howl's surprise. Immediately he apologized for the accident, but the girl was too busy trying to stand up with her innumerous layers of petticoat and dress. Her mother, a snobbish looking woman with a huge black hat adorned with a long red plume, looked to the wizard.

"How dare you do that to my poor daughter, you peasant!" the woman said, shaking her fat finger in front of Howl's face.

"I said I was sorry, madam, I didn't..."

"Oh dear, let me help you." The woman said, ignoring Howl and helping her daughter. The girl's blond curly hair was now messed up under her pink flowered hat. "Do you know who are you talking to, young man?" continued the mother.

Howl was quite uncomfortable with the situation. "I'm afraid not, madam. But I have already apolo..."

"You must be one of those ignorant poor people that doesn't even know who the king is." Said the woman. "I'm one of the richest woman of Kingsbury."

_Like I care about it_ thought Howl.

"Oh, mother, he ruined my hairdo! Do something, mom!" said the daughter, crying.

"You are so rude! A decent man would at least help the lady. Humpf! That's why I hate going to the Market, it's full of ignorant fools!" continued the snobbish woman, still shaking her finger to Howl.

"That's enough, madam! You don't have the right to call people ignorant or rude!" said Howl, who lost the temper. "I couldn't see your daughter because of this huge package with some bread and fruits, I've already apologized!"

The whole crowd had stopped what they were doing to watch what was going on. The mother, who looked offended by Howl's word, placed her chubby hands on her waist and glared to Howl. The scene was rather comical because the woman was fat and short, in contrast with the wizard who was slim and tall. Yet, the woman acted like she was thousand of times taller than Howl.

"How dare you talk to me like that! Who do you think you are?" yelled the woman.

"I am Howell Jenkins." Said Howl, angry. "But I think you know me better by the name of Wizard Howl, don't you?"

His name provoked the effect he wanted. The woman opened her mouth to answer, but them she closed it again, as if she was considering if it was safer to remain quiet. The people around them looked to Howl with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Holding his brown pack with bread and vegetables with one arm, Howl let his free hand on his waist.

"I may not be rich like you, madam, but I'm sure I'm not an ignorant fool. " Howl said, straightening his eyes and smiling. "And if I am rude, you are one million times ruder than me."

"W-what! You... you..."

"Ah, I wouldn't say that if I were you..." said Howl. "Anyway, I'm feeling nice today, so I'll fix your daughter's hairdo with my magic."

"Don't touch my daughter!" said the woman, putting herself between her daughter and the wizard.

"So, you don't want it? Women change their mind so easily! That's one of the mysteries I haven't solved yet." Said Howl. "Well, who am I to say that, I change my mind easily too. So, if you please, madam, I have to finish my shopping."  
Howl left the crowd and the two women and went to a small grocery where he could buy a bottle of milk and some cheese. When he was about to open the grocery's door, he looked back to the woman and her daughter, who were still looking at him.

"Ah, I forgot!" he started.

The woman froze. _He is going to cast a spell me, he will transform me into a frog or something worse!_ She thought.

"Please, don't transform me into anything, Wizard Howl!"

Howl tilted his head to the side and looked to her with innocent eyes. "But I wasn't thinking on transforming anyone into something. I just wanted to know if you know somewhere where I can buy some tea."

Completely astonished by the question and still afraid of what Howl could do, the woman simply pointed to a small green house on the other side of the Market.

"Oh, there? Thank you very much!" Howl said, before disappearing inside the grocery

-----

"I wonder why Howl isn't back yet." Murmured Sophie.

Suddenly, the door opened and Howl entered laughing. Lettie had recovered her consciousness and was trying to not faint again inside the strange moving castle.

"What happened, Howl?" Sophie asked.

"You can't believe what happened in the Market." Howl answered. "I had a little problem with an old snobbish woman and her daughter."

Sophie raised her eyebrow. "The daughter isn't one of your previous girlfriends, is her?"

Howl laughed. "No. I accidentally bumped into her. I couldn't see the way with those food packages. Her mother started yelling at me, saying that I was rude and ignorant, it was so hilarious when she found out who I am."

Howl continued his story, taking the food packages with him to the kitchen. Sophie followed him, curious to know the rest of the story.

In a nearby corner, Prince Justin was taking care of Lettie, who was way too confused and scared to say a word. Markl didn't help at all, practicing his spell lessons in front of her.

-----

After lunch, Sophie decided it was time for more waltz practicing with Howl, but something was bothering her. They had to practice with music from now on, but the wizard didn't seem to have a jukebox or a more appropriate place for them to dance.

"Howl, we can't continue practicing at the flower field. We have to practice with music!" she exclaimed.

The young man turned his head lazily and looked to her. "Well, that's not a problem. Follow me." He said, guiding Sophie to a corridor that she had never noticed. It was hidden behind the kitchen's shelf, which opened the passage when Howl waved his hand by moving to the side. It was dark and dusty, but when the couple entered the corridor lights turned on one by one. At the end of the corridor there was a single door. It was bigger than the others in the castle.

Howl approached and touched the door knob. The golden door knob made a click sound, so Sophie assumed that it was locked until then.

When Howl opened the door Sophie was amazed with what she saw. There was a piano, some violins, flutes and many other orchestra instruments that were covered with dust inside that large room that she had just discovered. The wizard tilted his head, examining the instruments.

"I guess we have to clean it all." Howl murmured.

"Oh my, Howl, is this...?"

"Yes, this is a ball room. I created it when I decided to live in this castle, but I've never used it to dance. I only came here once or twice to listen to music. Real life music is far better than jukebox music."

"But how are we going to clean it all?" said Sophie.

"Well, I just need some water and I can do a spell to clear it."

Sophie was surprised to know that. "Wait? If you know a cleaning spell, why you never used it when your castle was dirty?"

"Because this spell has a limited area, so to clean the whole castle I would have to spend a lot of energy and magic to do it, I would probably faint before finishing it. But one room is just fine, I won't faint using this spell only once."

"So better cleaning it like normal people." Said Sophie giggling. "But you and Markl are so lazy that you never tried to do it by yourself."

"Yes, that resumes everything quite perfectly." Said Howl.

Prince Justin and Lettie, who followed the two of them, were also astonished with the ball room.

"Sophie, call Markl to come with a glass of water." Said Howl.

The wizard took a charcoal from his pocket. Going to the middle of the room, he drew on the floor five circles, one inside the other, and wrote several words in a strange language next to the circles. On the middle of the smallest circle he drew a half moon and a small star.

Markl came with Sophie, holding a glass of water. "Here is the water you've asked, Master Howl!"

"Good. Put the glass inside this circle." Said Howl, pointing to the circle with the moon and the star.

The apprentice put the glass on the circle like he had been told to do and joined Prince Justin, Lettie and Sophie, looking rather curious to what his master was going to do.

Howl stepped inside the circles and raised his hand to the air. As he did it the glass broke, and somehow the amount of water grew, washing the whole room. Lettie jumped when she felt the water reaching her ankles, the prince just looked astonished with the spell. Sophie and Markl, however, didn't seem to be much surprised. Afterall, they have been living in a magical castle for a good amount of time.

Once the water washed everything it disappeared. The circles and other drawings that Howl had done before vanished as well. The wizard smiled, satisfied with himself and walked towards the instruments.

"Well, now we only need some music!"

Suddenly the instruments gained life and were playing. Everyone looked amazed with that, even Markl.

"Woa, Master Howl. I didn't know there was a spell to give life to objects!"

"Yes there is." Howl said calmly, while searching for music scores behind the piano. "But that's advanced level spells and you are not learning it until you've mastered all the basic spells. That means you still have to improve your floating spells."

Markl pounted. "Aw... not fair! It's hard to make that book float!"

Holding a really old-looking book, Howl opened it and started to search for a waltz. When he finally found one, he waved his hand over the book. Automatically the instruments started to play waltz.

The wizard walked back to the group. Elegantly, he took Sophie's hand and bowed to kiss her hand.

"Will you dance with me, my dear Sophie?" he asked, looking to her eyes.

Sophie blushed a little but replied quickly. "Yes." She looked to Prince Justin and her sister. "Why don't you dance with us? It will be fun that way!"

Both prince and Lettie looked at each other with surprised faces.

"Me?" they said in unison. "Us?"

"Yes."

After some time in silence, Justin looked to Lettie, who didn't know what to say.

"Well...huh... would you like to dance me, Miss Hatter?"

-----

Author's note: YES, FINALLY AN UPDATE! Again, people, I can't update this very often due to school, I have lots of problems to solve in real life, like deciding what I'm going to do for a living, decide which university I want to go to study...

Next chapter will show the waltz practice! For anyone who is curious about me choosing waltz and not another dancing style, if you listen to the Howl's Moving Castle OST most soundtracks are waltzes. Not to mention that waltz is perfect for the book/movie's atmosphere. And I don't know waltz myself, I just know how to play waltz on keyboard.

I read this chapter again once and so far I didn't find any mistake... but that doesn't help much since I'm quite sleepy today...


	6. A new love is born

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 6: A new love is born

-------

"Would you like to dance with me, Miss Hatter?"

Lettie hesitated a bit, but accepted the prince's offer. The two joined Howl and Sophie, who were already starting their first steps. Howl had already learned how to follow Sophie without looking down to his own feet, but that was the first time they were practicing with music, and the wizard found out that harder than following Sophie, dancing and following the music was an incredibly difficult task.

The prince and Lettie, on the other hand, were already dancing wonderfully. Prince Justin was an excellent dancer, and Lettie danced fairly well. However, the oddest thing about Sophie and Howl was that the man is always supposed to guide the woman in waltz, but since the wizard didn't know how to dance it was Sophie who was guiding him.

"Don't worry, Howl. I bet you will be able to dance soon." Said Sophie.

"Well, I HOPE I will be able to dance soon." He replied

Meanwhile, the other couple had its own problems. Prince Justin was fascinated by Lettie's beauty, and he soon learned that she had the same temper Sophie did. Or probably worse, as he recalled seeing a rather dizzy Howl after the incident at Cesary's. Even when she was angry, Sophie never threw anything at Howl, not even when the wizard had his tantrum and she became angry at him for his childish behavior. However, Lettie still didn't show much affection for the prince. She continued dancing, but probably just because she thought it would be rude to refuse an invitation to dance, as she didn't seem to focus her attention on Justin.

Deep inside, Lettie was rather curious about the prince. He was really charming, the perfect picture of the man she always dreamt of. But she couldn't just let him know it, she was too proud of herself to let a man know that she likes him. Prince Justin wasn't the first beautiful man she saw, many of them have asked her out at Cesary's. And she always withdrew, saying that she was too busy. To her, a man should fight for a woman's love, which meant that Prince Justin wouldn't win her heart that easily.

Howl clumsily learned that all he had to do was to make the steps he had learned with Sophie following the music time. He had to count the rhythm, but he already managed to guide Sophie a little, which made Sophie look to him brightly.

"That's it, Howl!" she exclaimed. "Now you only have to practice so you don't have to count the time."

The wizard smiled to her, pleased with her happiness and glad that he was really learning how to dance. One of the things that Sophie loved in Howl was his smile, it was sweet and warm like Spring.

Although the wizard managed to advance more, soon both couples were tired and took a break. Howl clapped twice and the instruments stopped immediately, falling dead at the floor, making a rather loud sound. Markl must had heard at, since he came running shortly after, looking a bit startled.

"Tea time." Howl announced. "I think we should call it a day, I think."

Prince Justin took his hat, which he had left with Markl and nod. "Yes, I totally agree with you, Howell Jenkins."

Howl made a mental note concerning the prince being annoyingly polite, but continued talking as if nothing had happened. "I think we still have a Cesary's cake and I bought more tea."

"Sounds good to me." Said Sophie, following Howl and Markl to the kitchen. Prince Justin and Lettie just followed them after. Lettie was way to tired to say no to a tea party invitation, even if she knew that she was supposed to be back to Cesary's to get her things and go home.

The kitchen was warmed by Calcifer's low fire. The fire demon seemed to be almost sleeping. Grandma was sitting in front of him, warming her hands. Markl cleaned the table and put some plates and cups, while Howl searched for the cake and Sophie prepared the tea.

"Master Howl, I think I managed to learn the spell." Said Markl, while waking up Calcifer. The fire demon yawned and stretched its little arms. He was about to complain when he smelled food and learned that it was probably tea time.

"Oh, really?" said Howl, cutting the marvelous strawberry cake into seven pieces. Calcifer would annoy him for the rest of the day if he didn't get a piece of cake too.

"Yep, let me show you!"

Markl got his wizardry book and opened to the page where the floating spell was described. He choose one of Calcifer's wood logs and pointed to it. He squeezed his eyes a little, trying to concentrate on the spell and make that log float.

Slowly, the log moved and floated next to Calcifer. It seemed that the boy had indeed learned the spell. However, the log suddenly started to shake and then it started to bounce and fly through the room. It hit Howl's shelf, breaking a couple of glasses, almost hit Grandma's head, if she hadn't dodged it when she fell from the chair a little, indicating that she had fallen asleep. Lettie yelped when the log came flying right in front of her, and if it hadn't been for Prince Justin putting his arm in front of her it would have hit her face.

Soon Howl managed to dispel the log, which stopped flying right above Calcifer. It fell and the fire demon extended his little arms, trying to get the log. However he missed it, and the wood log hit his head, causing him to yell in pain.

"Ouch, those logs are really heavy!" he cried. "Markl, you did the flying spell, not the floating spell!"

Markl looked to his book again. "Oh, I think I read the flying spell by mistake, it's my next lesson..."

Howl chuckled a little. "Well, at least it's one less lesson for me to teach you. But next time you want to show me your spell, show it outside the castle, at the flower field. There no one will see us, and we never know when a spell goes wrong and something explodes."

The boy looked down. "Sorry, master Howl."

Lettie looked to Prince Justin, who had defended her from the flying log. Unlike her, he had already got used to the magical issues of the Moving Castle, afterall he lived there as a scarecrow for a long time, so he just continued staring at Calcifer's flames.

"Huh... I..."

The prince turned his head to her. "Yes, miss Hatter?"

"Huh... I... er... thanks for defending me." She said, avoiding eye contact with the prince.

Prince Justin blushed a little, but replied with a smile. "You are welcome."

"Sophie, what time is it?" Lettie asked.

"Hum... 5 o'clock I think."

Lettie stood up quickly. "What?! I must go! My things are still at Cesary's and they are going to close it!"

The prince also stood up. "Oh my, I forgot the King had asked me to have dinner with him, I must go too."

Sophie put the kettle to boil. "Aw, can't you have tea with us?"

"No, Sophie, I'm really sorry." Said Lettie. "I really must go."

Her sister smiled. "That's ok, Lettie."

Howl stopped cutting the cake. "Well, so only 5 pieces needed. Are you going too, Ka... I mean, Prince Justin?"

"Yes, I am afraid that I have to. And someone has to go with miss Hatter, it's late and the roads are dangerous right now. Where do you live, miss Hatter?"

Blushing furiously, Lettie just said "Market Chipping, at the end of the valley."

"That's quite far from here."

"Lettie has to wake up early everyday to get the train, otherwise she can't go to the Cesary's." said Sophie. "Could you go with her, Prince Justin? I want to make sure she arrives home safely."

The prince bowed. "It will be an honor to help your sister, Sophie. I mean, unless she is against it."

Lettie became even more red, if that was possible. "Oh, no, it is I who I am honored to have your companion."

She took her things and followed Prince Justin, who opened the castle's door for her in an elegant way. First he made sure the door switch was on Market Chipping, by looking outside to check the scenery. As he saw the old little houses of the small village, he smiled and let Lettie go out first.

"I must say it I really enjoyed the meeting, Sophie and Howell. Let me thank you for the wonderful dancing section." He said, before closing the door and vanishing from Howl's vision.

"Ack, will he stop calling me Howell? I mean, only my family calls me that!" the wizard complained, remembering his parents and his sister.

Sophie laughed at his comment. She was busy making dinner. "Well, at least I think you won't need to make the switch spell on yourself."

Howl raised an eyebrow, rather curious about what she was thinking. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed how my sister reacted to Kabu's manners?" Sophie asked.

"... You don't think she...?"

"I think she is."

"... in love, really?"

Sophie nodded. For the first time that day Howl showed a really sincere and big smile. If Lettie was in love with the prince, he could just cast the simple switch spell on Sophie and her. That would be safer for everyone, specially for Justin and him. He was checking the other switch spell. It was way too dangerous, it could work fine with two wizards, but not with a wizard and a common human, since the later usually can't control the magical powers of the wizard. He had also considered disguising himself, like he did when he took the King's form to check how Sophie was doing at the castle, and making just a transforming spell on the prince. However, like the strong switching spell, it was too dangerous for Prince Justin. The transforming spell required Howl's memory to perform the transformation, so unless the prince had a good picture of him, Howl would never be able to change him back to what he was. Not to mention that the spell was really strong and if anything went wrong while transforming the prince, canceling it would require lots of magic from the wizard. No, the common switching spell was far less complicated and much more safer.

"Let's hope a new love was born, Sophie..."

--------

Author's note: A short chapter, I know. I've had a huge writing block and only now I'm recovering from that. This end of the year is quite busy for me, with university exams (here you have to make a test to go to an university), last year of highschool, etc. I did check the spelling on half the chapter, but I didn't have time to check the rest of it, so forgive me for any mistake.


	7. Gossip at Cesary’s

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details references.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 7: Gossip at Cesary's

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Lettie Hatter couldn't feel better that morning. The sun was warming her face as she woke up and the surroundings of the town were filled with laugh and giggles. However, she couldn't waste her time no more, for she was supposed to be at the Cesary's, so she didn't even have breakfast before changing her clothes and hurrying to the bakery.

She finally knew how her sister felt when she said that she came walking on the sky with a complete stranger. That was how young women in love felt when they met their prince charming for the first time. She couldn't blame Sophie for daydreaming like she did back then, because she couldn't stop thinking on Prince Justin herself.

Lettie was so busy trying to concentrate on her work that she hadn't noticed a number of ladies giggling and talking loudly next to the Cesary's entrance. They were those nobleman's spoiled daughters that didn't hesitate to put their status and money above everything. A little bit like her mother, Lettie thought a bit sadly. But those girls were far worse than her mother, for she would never lie just to make others think better of her.

"Oh, you can't believe who invited me to the War's End celebration!" said one of the ladies

"Oh, it's obviously the Prince, everyone got a written invitation from him." One of the other ones teased.

"No no, he came personally to my parent's house and invited me!"

"Really?" shouted all of them.

Lettie couldn't help but listen to them. That girl must be joking, for the prince was way too important and busy to go to someone's house, unless the said person had a very high status or was a close friend, like Sophie and the wizard Howl. However, the Prince would go personally to her house and invite her by himself, like he did after leaving Howl's castle. Then she also reminded herself that Prince Justin was going to Wales, to solve some personal business, he couldn't have found time to go after another girl and… Yet, she couldn't help but suspect about those girls' talk.

Little did she know that, like most of the things nobleman's daughters say, that girl had lied just to make others jealous. For others, Prince Justin was still single and in search for a young lady to go to the royal ball. In the future she would curse herself for doubting the prince's words, but Lettie actually never had a boyfriend in her life, and she was afraid to lose the only one she truly fell in love.

All she could do was to wait for his return. But what if all was a lie?

----

"Really, Howl, I think your problem is that your head is only worried with that spell."

Sophie and Howl were again practicing, and although the wizard had advanced in his waltz lesson, Sophie sensed that his head was busy with other stuff when she was dancing with him. A man should guide gently the lady in waltz, and that wasn't exactly what Howl was doing, being hesitant at the first step, failing to hold her at the finale, and Sophie was growing more and more frustrated that day, because she didn't hear anything from her sister. She was expecting Lettie to say something about what happened between her and Prince Justin.

"I can't help it, Sophie. Something is telling me that Lettie and Kabu head are not as well as you think."

"How can you say that? Didn't you see how they were two days ago?" Sophie exclaimed.

"Sure I did, they looked like a romantic couple, not denying it. But I just feel that something is wrong, at least with your sister."

Sophie widened her eyes a little. "Are you serious, Howl?"

The wizard tilted his head to the left and sighed. "Not a hundred per cent sure, but it sure is bothering me a little."

He didn't even get the chance to say his next sentence to Sophie when Calcifer's voice echoed from the fireplace to the ballroom. Someone was knocking at the Market Chipping door in a rather nervous way, according to the fire demon. Sophie hurried to the entrance, only to hear her sister's voice behind the door, sobbing.

"Sophie, please! I really need to talk to you!" Lettie cried, only to fall into her sister's arms when Sophie opened the door. "I'm in really in trouble now!"

Sophie tried to calm Lettie down, guiding her to the kitchen's table and offering her a piece of cake and a cup of tea. Lettie didn't seem to be able to swallow something as solid as the vanilla cake that rested in front of her, but she nervously took the cup of tea and took a sip.

"I… Sophie, help me with this, I've got myself into a real big problem" Lettie managed to say.

"What problem, Lettie?"

Lettie told her everything she had heard at the Cesary's. When she had finished, Howl was standing next to the stair, giving Calcifer new wood logs and feeding Heen. He didn't hear all the story, but he did catch the part that most interested the three of them.

"I don't believe the prince would do that, Lettie, I bet that girl was just lying to get herself admired and envied by her friends, who, in my opinion, are just as stupid as any other nobleman's daughter. I definitely hate nobles, they think they can do whatever they want! I'm just glad they still respect wizards and witches for they are way to coward to insult someone who can transform them into a cockroach with a single blink of an eye." Howl said, remembering his rather annoying meeting with a woman and a girl at the Market Chipping some days ago. He wasn't a Prince Justin fan, far from that, but he couldn't help but feel pity for Lettie's current state.

"I know that, but, I did something really stupid!" Lettie let out between sobs. "Back at the Cesary's, I was so lost in my thoughts and doubts that I didn't hear the said girl talking to me, asking for a piece of strawberry cake with chocolate frosting. To call my attention she said 'I bet you didn't get anyone to invite you, poor creature. Sure you are beautiful, but you're not noble or rich." I shouldn't have let my emotions take control of myself, I shouted at her, told her she was a liar. I told this more to myself than to her, for I was seriously wondering why the Prince would invite me, just an attendant of a bakery, when he could have invited such a beautiful and noble woman like her. How stupid I was for thinking like that, not only I dared to think doubt someone as kind as the prince, but I'd offended a client!"

Then she continued her story, telling how the girl accused her of offending her to her superior, who got really disappointed to her. Never had Lettie done anything wrong at her work, and now she was bound to work extra hours as punishment for offending a costumer. To make things worse, she had to do that exactly at the ball's day.

"I won't be able to go to the ball! I'll have to work until 8 o'clock of the night, I won't have time to go home, change clothes and make myself presentable for the event." She cried. The ball started at eight, and no one was allowed to enter after eight thirty. A carriage ride between Kingsbury and Market Chipping took at least 40 minutes.

"That's not fair! She insulted you first!" said Sophie, with her famous angry expression.

Lettie let out a sigh and took another sip of her tea. "Sophie, that doesn't matter. They would prefer punishing me, knowing that I need the job so I won't quit it, rather than losing a very rich customer. As you can see, I'm completely lost! It's not just the party, but it was going to be a very special night for the prince and I."

"That was bad", Howl thought, not only for Lettie, but because that sent them back to the start their little problem with Madam Sulliman. If only Prince Justin was there all this mess was to be solved, but the prince wouldn't come back for the ball and maybe it would be too late. Howl was certain that he had to do something, yet the only answer was to speak with the prince before, maybe he could solve this whole thing. He hated that idea, though, for that would mean going to Wales and have a bigger chance to meet his family, and he was satisfied with himself for not doing that in ages.

Still, between facing his family and Madam Sulliman's rage, he would definitely prefer getting scolded by the first. At least they weren't witches and wizards. Except for his uncle, but he was already dead. And his uncle would never disapprove him for his life, Howl used to be his favorite nephew. After having a mental discussion with himself, the wizard placed his tea cup next to Sophie's cup and summoned Markl, who quickly attended to his master's call.

"Master Howl, why did you call me? I was practicing the spe…"

"Markl, I'm changing the location for the black one."

Sophie, Calcifer and Markl looked at him with wide eyes. "Changing?! Why?!"

"Howl! You know how I hate when you change locations!" complained the fire demon from his fireplace.

"Changing locations? What does that mean? Sophie?" Lettie didn't understand anything.

"I'm only changing the entrance today, Calcifer. It's not like I'm moving all the four doors, right? And it's not like I need the current black one now, without the war."

Howl didn't consider Wales as his childhood home, more like "the place where I was raised until I was old enough to learn magic". Howl spent most of his childhood with his uncle, a wizard, but not a very great one, in that small house by the lake, very close to Wales. He came back home during festivities, but always returned to his uncle's house. At first his family didn't mind Howl learning a few small tricks, but when the young apprentice told them that he was going to learn greater things with the famous Royal Wizard Madam Sulliman, his family was horrified. "A son of mine will never learn such dangerous things!" his mother had said. His father didn't mind much, as long as Howl learned magic for good, not for bad things like war, cursing, etc. Yet, his mother never treated him tenderly like she used to. Things got worse when those rumors of him stealing people's heart spread to all the nearby countries. He had avoided contact with his family for years due to his fear that The Witch of Waste would harm them like she did with Sophie, but his sister and mother interpreted this as a sign that those rumors were true. Last time he visited his family, he was treated as a wicked and insane man. That really hurt him, for even his sister didn't believe his words and closed her door for him. He doesn't regret becoming The Great Wizard Howl, but he wished sometimes that he didn't go with Madam Sulliman, for not only he lost his family love, but also his tutor's respect.

"Are you sure you wanna do that, Howl? You remember what happened…?" said Calcifer, worried.

The wizard finished drawing the magical diagram on the entrance floor and approached the fireplace to get Calcifer.

"Well… I can't let the buttons buttoned on the wrong place forever, can I?"

-----------------------

Author's note: So sorry for not updating in a year, I kinda typed this chapter two or three times already, but I had to add another problem in the plot to get the end I want to write. So I'm really sorry and I ask forgiveness for all of you who continue reading First Waltz. No, I'm not dropping this one, I am going to finish this story, so don't worry, you'll get to see Howl dancing with Sophie.

About the button thing, it's a small reference to a chapter from the mangá Fruits Basket. One of the characters doesn't have a good relationship with his parents, so he say that his situation looks like buttons from a blouse that are buttoned wrongly, like something is wrong between them but they are still connected somehow.


	8. As the heaven cries

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details references.

--

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

--

Chapter 8: As the heaven cries.

--

 "Sophie, you stay here."

Right after finishing the moving ritual, Sophie was ready to jump into that door, but not ready to hear what she had just heard. "Don't start with the 'It's dangerous' talk, Howl, I…"

"It's not what I was thinking. You are braver than I, remember? But I need you to stay here and make sure your sister doesn't give up. She needs her sister right now to give her strength." said Howl. "Markl, you also stay, I need someone who has magical powers to take care of the castle."

Howl changed the door switch to black and opened the door. A cool breeze came into the house, and Sophie could tell it smelled like flowers. Howl summoned his coat and an umbrella, "just in case it rains", he said.

"Well, I think I should go, if I'm not mistaken the prince is staying near my family's house, so I'll probably find him quickly."

"Howl." said Sophie.

"Sophie?"

"… It's nothing. Just promise me you will come back."

Howl wondered for a while about her words. "… I will."

And then no sign of Howl could be seen. He had stepped outside the castle.

--

As he stepped outside that door, he could smell the flowers of that old garden in which one day his sister played with him. No matter how many times he changed that door, it always opened to the old windmill next to his house. The windmill smelled dust, and no one dared to touch it because they believed it was haunted. But Howl knew that no ghost lived there, the only spirit that could come outside of that door was his.

It was a cloudy day in Wales. The wizard closed the door of the windmill and looked around. The village didn't change at all since his last visit. He looked to the small piece of paper in which Prince Justin wrote his temporary address, and then looked to the biggest house of the village, located in front of the windmill.

"It seems no one is home… I guess I should go after the prince so."

The prince's inn was on the other side of the village. Howl knew why he had chosen such place. "This village is in the middle of nowhere… not many people know that the great wizard Howl comes from this little place." He thought, smiling. It was the perfect place for someone who needed peace… unless you were Howl. Because as he walked down the windmill's hill and turned to the left, he heard a very familiar voice.

"Howell Jenkins!" squeaked a girl with dark curly hair braided behind him.

Howl turned his head slowly, only to duck down in order to avoid a bucket of water. "M-megan?"

"Of course it's me! How dare you to come back?! Go away, wicked wizard!"

Megan was Howl's younger sister, and like his brother she had dark hair and bright bluish eyes. She was holding a broom, looking quite surprised and angry with Howl's presence. The wizard took the empty bucket and held it with his hands, quite scared of his sister. She was only one year younger than him, but Howl was always scared of his sister when she was angry.

"Megan, I mean no harm to you and mother, I…"

"Mother? Your mother is not here anymore, Howell." Said Megan, her grip on the broom was so intense Howl thought she would break it.

"My mother…? What? What happened to her?"

Megan sighed. "What happened? She is dead!" she said, struggling to not let her tears fall, trying to look strong in front of that person who once was her brother.

Howl, on the other hand, was hit by her words and let the bucked and his umbrella fall. "… Dead?"

"Yes. She is dead. And you are not her son, as I'm not your sister. My mother died two weeks ago. Your mother died when you left this house." said Megan, her cold voice dilacerating Howl's mind, soul and heart. His mother was dead. And it looked like she had hated him until the end, like Megan still hated him.

"She can't be…"

"Yes she is!"

"…I'm sorry."

His legs weakened, he knelt beside his old house, with his sister looking at him from the garden. The flowers were still there, but he could not see their bright colors, nor smell their sweet scent anymore. He could only see his sister, who looked back into his eyes as if he was a monster.

"Go away. You don't belong here."

"I'm sorry."

 He felt his self-control going away. A rational part of his mind told him that was dangerous, but the other part just wanted to let those tears fall like rain.

"And don't you dare to go to the graveyard! Let mother and father rest in peace!"

The skies became darker and Howl suddenly felt anger rising. "I've never harmed anyone."

"All lies!"

"Megan, I'm your brother!"

"I don't have a brother!"

"Fine, Megan! So forget about my existence!" Howl yelled, angry and frustrated, not only with his sister, but with himself. "My business here today does not concern you, anyway." Being a wizard was extremely dangerous for Howl. As his anger grew more and more intense he could sense the clouds becoming darker and he could feel the first drops of rain hitting his face. "Let's stop this before something worse happens."

 Hearing that, Megan looked terrified to her older brother. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to find someone."

"I mean the village… you are not… you are not cursing it, are you? I would never forgive you for that!" she said, backing away from her brother, trying to reach the house's main door.

"… You'll never forgive me no matter what I do. But I'm not cursing anyone… unless we continue this discussion. I cannot control my powers if that goes too far." Howl replied coldly, turning his back to his sister and getting his umbrella. "I can evoke the bad spirits when depressed, but I don't want to learn what may happen when I'm angry." The rain fell just in time, because he didn't want to let his sister see his tears of sadness and hate.

As he walked away of his old house he couldn't see his sister looking at him from the door. Only when he disappeared from her horizon she closed her door. That was the last time she would see his brother, because Howl decided he would never come back to Wales after what happened. He couldn't hate his sister, he only hated his fate, and he came to the conclusion, while walking towards that inn, that he would rather prefer to never see his family again then argue with his sister the way he did that day.

After one hour of walking in the rain, the wizard could finally see the small inn with its windows glowing with a yellow and gentle light. He had opened his umbrella some minutes after leaving his sister, but his hair and pants were already soaked, so when he entered the inn the owner quickly showed him the fireplace while searching for a towel. Howl was glad to be able to warm himself next to it, and also by the fact that the inn's owner changed. This one didn't know him, so he didn't have to worry about unwanted discussions.

The small inn was quite empty, except for an old woman and a blond gentleman who was having his dinner on a table not too far away from Howl.

"Edward?"

The young man turned his head towards the wizard and looked surprised. "Howe…" But Howl made a sign of silence and the prince shut up. "Don't speak my name here." He whispered, sitting on a chair in front of "Edward", who happened to be Prince Justin. "People here still think I'm the 'Hideous Wizard Howl that eats people's hearts'"

Understanding what the other man had meant, the prince quickly changed the subject. "How are you doing, my old friend? What a surprise to see you here in Wales. Would you like to have a drink?"

Howl was somewhat surprised by how sharp was Justin's mind and gave a friendly smile to support the acting. "Why, I would be delighted to."

The prince raised an eyebrow. To see Howl right there in front of him meant trouble, and the raven-haired man was in a dreadful state, even if he was still smiling to avoid suspect looks. Before he could even ask what brought him to Wales, or what happened, the wizard himself spoke:

"We have to return to Market Chipping. Your 'sister is ill', good friend." Howl said, hopping the prince would get what he meant by "sister is ill". He didn't want to let others know about their plans for the ball. He had time enough to learn that a woman is able to do anything to get what she wants. It was like that with the Witch of the Waste, and Madam Sulliman could quite well have sent spies disguised to this village. She was the one that knew more about Howl, even more than Sophie. Because he never discussed his entire childhood with Sophie, except for what she saw when she came to rescue him.

Prince Justin quickly got what the wizard meant and stood up and called the inn's owner. "Sir, I'm afraid I'll have to depart now. My friend here brought me some terrible news. It looks like someone from my family is very sick, I have to go now!"

"Oh, goodness!" said the owner.

"I think that pays everything!" said the prince, giving the old man a bag full of gold coins. "I really have to go and… oh, thanks for getting my suitcase."

Howl had gone to the rooms' floor and quickly summoned Justin's suitcase while no one was seeing. "Quick! She is gravely ill!" he said. Both gentlemen exited the inn and Howl guided the prince to the old windmill. He was glad to know that the prince followed his instructions and used a fake name so no one in Wales would suspect about him. It seemed that everyone thought he was just an eccentric nobleman who was tired to the great cities. The prince was also wearing some clothes he borrowed from Howl so he didn't look like "Prince Justin" at all.

"I just hope nothing had happened while we were away." said Howl while opening the windmill's door. He took a last glance of his old house. He could see smoke coming out of the chimney. That meant his sister was probably preparing dinner. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, but ignored it. Justin, on the other hand, felt that that house meant something to the wizard, but decided to not ask anything. He would respect Howl's privacy.

As he set one foot inside the windmill, followed by Prince Justin, he could feel the warmth of Calcifer's fire. The demon was there, half asleep. Sophie was probably with her sister and he could see Grandma, Markl and Heen sleeping on the sofa next to Calcifer, peacefully.

As he looked to the wood table in the kitchen in search for something to eat, he found a small piece of paper on a book. He grabbed the book and looked at the title.

"Waltz in 10 lessons?" he read. He then looked at the small piece of paper on his other hand and couldn't help but smile:

_Don't forget to practice! You only have one more day!_

_Welcome back_

_Sophie_

--

Author's note: Sorry again for the late update, I've been having so many writing blocks that I've dropped my other fanfics. I tried to beta-read myself, but I'm really tired and I might have skipped one mistake or another. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. "First Waltz" is finally reaching the final chapters, so I would like to thank everyone who has been following this story.

Note: Megan is Howl's sister's name in the book, but his family relationship and this Megan are not related in any way with the book's original story.


	9. The first waltz starts to play

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details references.

------

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

-----

Chapter 9: The first waltz starts to play.

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One day passed quite quickly, so when Howl woke up that morning he could already see the outside of the flower shop quite crowded with men buying bouquets for their girlfriends and wives. He thought it was awfully early to be awake, but Sophie insisted to have a final dance before the actual ball.

"Howl, just wash your face, you're looking like a zombie!" said Sophie when he appeared at the kitchen.

After having breakfast the couple went once more to the ballroom. They danced for hours, until Howl heard Markl yelling and Heen barking.

The music stopped immediately. He ran to the kitchen, where Markl was, followed by Sophie, who was torn between thinking that the boy had tried a new spell and that he had just burnt eggs again.

When they reached the kitchen there was no smoke or flying things attacking and breaking things. But they did see Prince Justin's hat transformed into a big orange pumpkin that, just after transformed fell to the ground and making now a big, orange mess.

"I'm sorry, sir! I was aiming for the skull, not your hat, sir!" Markl exclaimed, while cleaning the floor nervously.

"There, there, I am not angry, young man. Oh, there you are, Sophie, I must have a word with you and Howell." said the prince, whose yellow trousers were now half yellow, half orange, but seemed to not mind it.

"Fine, but just PLEASE stop calling me Howell!" said Howl, annoyed. "And I think you would like those cleaned, right?" he continued, waving his right hand to cast a cleaning spell. In a blink of eyes all the prince's clothes and the floor were cleaned, to Markl's surprise.

"Anyway, have you talked to Lettie?" Sophie asked.

"That is the reason why I am here. I spoke to her and she told me everything, so I went to Cesary's with her to try to solve our problems. When her boss saw that I was really asking her to go with me to the ball he let her go and do the extra work another tomorrow. He told me he thought Lettie had invented everything because she was angry with that costumer, but now he even apologized to Lettie. Still, he couldn't let her go out of the punishment, because it seems that noble woman was a really important costumer and rules are rules." the prince said.

Sophie felt light-hearted after hearing such good news. Howl already ignored the prince's presence and grabbed a pan. All they could hear afterwards was Calcifer's usual complains about having to cook and heat the castle's water.

------------------

It was 7 o'clock and two couples were standing in front of Calcifer's fireplace. Howl and Sophie were wearing the outfits they had bought the other day. Prince Justin changed his usual suit for a more elegant one, with gold buttons and some silver pins that Howl was sure to be signs of his current royal status. Lettie, matching him, was wearing a light yellow long dress and her hair was adorned with a golden flower hairpin. Ironically, the prince opted to not wear a top hat that evening, while Howl for the first time was wearing a black one.

"I'm so glad I'm able to be here with you all today." said Lettie. "But I'm curious, why were you in Wales, Prince Justin?"

The prince slightly blushed. "Please, call me just Justin, no need for formalities between the four of us. Actually, I went to Wales to see a place where we could stay for a while, until Howl's issue with Madam Sulliman is forgotten." he explained. "She didn't seem to suspect anything, since I'm always making quick travels for diplomatic reasons" he quickly added.

Howl interrupted the prince suddenly. "Wait, you just called me 'Howl'?" asked the wizard, astonished.

"Yes, I have remembered you said before you did not like people calling you 'Howell'."

"_And only now you've taken this into consideration?"_ Howl thought, frustrated.

"Lettie, remember when I've explained our problem to you yesterday? We had to find a place where you two can stay until Howl and I can make Madam Sulliman forget about Howl's past mistakes and leave us alone. It's for your own safety."

Lettie recalled talking about it with her sister on the previous day. Sophie had visited her to see how she was doing and told that Prince Justin was coming back to solve everything. When the prince arrived both told her they had something really important to tell her, and she had listened to it quietly.

After hearing their problem she had felt a bit sad and angry with the whole situation. After all, they were using her. But Sophie told her that they wouldn't have continued their original plan if they knew Lettie didn't love Justin. And the prince had promised her that what he felt for her was truly love, otherwise he wouldn't put himself in a situation where a spell can make him fall in love with the wrong woman.

"Yet, how am I supposed to leave my work to go to Wales, Sophie?" she complained.

"Oh, don't worry, we've found someone to work in your place while you're gone." said Sophie, pointing to Howl.

Lettie looked to the magician with top hat. "But, Sophie, he is a man! He cannot work as a waitress!"

"It's not like I ENJOY disguising as a girl, but we couldn't have you losing your job, right?" Howl said, while placing his hand on his head. As he did that he shrunk and got longer hair. His outfit changed to one of Cesary's uniforms and where once was a wizard now stood a waitress from Cesary's. "I believe this should do. What do you think of your friend Olette? I'm glad you only work during the day, because I can't stay with this disguise for too long." the waitress said.

Getting used to the unusual things that used to happen in that castle, that time Lettie did not faint, but couldn't help but stare with wide eyes to Howl, who now just waved his hand to the side and changed back to the tall man with top hat he was.

"And since we are going to stay with your bodies changed for at least three days I'll go to Cesary's as you and explain everything." Sophie continued.

Lettie considered all the things and so far it seemed to be a good plan, but her thoughts were interrupted by Howl's clock announcing the hour. It was half past seven. They should start the spell now or they wouldn't make to the palace on time.

Howl ordered both sisters to stand one next to the other and drew a circle where each one was standing with a piece of chalk, then connected both circles with a line. Both were instructed to not leave the circle from now on because that would cancel the spell, so Lettie could only watch nervously as the wizard wrote something on both sides of the line and drew triangles on the circles' borders and other symbols she couldn't recognize. As he continued drawing the lines started to glow faintly.

When the last line was drawn by Howl the whole drawing emitted a strong light. At first the skirt of Sophie's dress changed to yellow slowly, then Lettie's short gloves transformed into long sleeved ones almost instantly. Sophie felt her short hair become heavier and when she looked to Lettie she saw herself with blue eyes. But in one second those eyes became brown and soon her sister's hairpin disappeared from the top of her head to appear on Sophie's now blond hair.

On the other side Prince Justin and Markl were watching the magic working and couldn't believe in what they saw. As for Howl, he was still holding the piece of chalk he used to draw and watching as his Sophie became Lettie and Lettie became Sophie.

Once the magic finished the wizard broke the chalk he was holding into halves andt he light faded. Howl then told both girls they could now step outside their circles.

"Now, remember that while you two look like your own sister, you still are Sophie and Lettie. You two have to pretend you are someone you are not." Howl warned.

Sophie looked to her sister. "You are looking just like me!"

"And you, me!" said Lettie, astonished.

"Hurry, we have to go to the palace!" said Howl, who looked to his watch nervously. He switched the door to Market Chipping instead of Kingsbury. "We cannot use the Kingsbury door because there are too many people that might find strange that we are coming out of an old, dirty house." He explained. Everyone agreed with that.

As they opened the door the two couples could see many people with elegant dresses and suits in their way to Kingsbury. Some women were carrying bouquets of white roses; others received red ones, all of them bought at the Hatter's flower shop. However, most of them were just too busy making sure they were impeccable and with as many jewels as they could to show their social status. Sophie and Lettie were wearing small, golden earrings and very simple necklaces, but one could dare to say that they were more beautiful that many rich girls that passed by them.

Howl called for a carriage for four people, but when all of them were inside it and the carriage started moving they heard someone complaining about "getting their carriage". For some reason, both Howl and Lettie had the impression that they knew that irritable voice, but none of them actually shared this impression with the others.

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When they saw the lights of the capital city many other carriages of all colors could be seen next to their own carriage. Soon they were standing in front of the giant gates of the royal palace, with many other couples talking and laughing while waiting for the opening. Howl noticed that while the invitations the four of them had in hands were envelopes with letters written in green ink and with the King's seal most of the crowd was holding invitations written in red ink and were just a piece of card rather than an envelope.

Prince Justin was the one who had given them their invitations, each one with their names written on the back side of the envelope. He walked towards the guard that was in front of the gate and showed Sophie's envelope and his own invitation. The prince had explained that only very important people received the "green invitation", most of them people close to the royal family.

"Prince Justin and Miss Sophie Hatter!" the guard announced, opening the gates.

Everyone stopped talking to see the prince and Lettie, who now was Sophie pass the gates. It was popular belief that Sophie was living with Howl, so no one quite understood why Sophie Hatter was walking side by side with Prince Justin. Soon they came to the conclusion that the wizard wasn't invited or was too anti-social to really care for any commemoration so he let Miss Hatter go without him. The fact was that no one really knew who the great wizard Howl was.

Howl and Sophie followed the couple and presented their own invitation and soon no one understood a thing anymore. The guard remained in silence for a while before announcing their names.

"Miss Lettie Hatter and Mr. Howell Jenkins, the Great Wizard Howl!"

Everyone turned their attention to the couple that just passed the gates. One tall, young man, dressed elegantly in black was with no other than Lettie Hatter, Sophie Hatter's sister and well known waitress of the famous Cesary's patisserie. But no one was actually paying attention to Lettie's beauty, for they were much more interested in the mysterious dark figure that now everyone knew was the famous Wizard Howl.

In the middle of the crowd Howl heard again the same voice they had heard when they left Market Chipping. The said annoying voice came from a woman who now as white as the petals of the many white roses decorating the palace's gardens.

"I can't believe he is here!"

Neither Howl nor Sophie could see who said that, but next to that unknown person they saw a familiar face to the wizard. It was that girl he had bumped into in Market Chipping. So that voice could only belong to…

"Why, if it isn't the noble woman who I've met in Market Chipping!" he exclaimed when he finally saw the short woman shaking while trying to maintain her composure next to her daughter. "It is a pleasure to meet you two again!"

Sophie looked to Howl and then to the other two and then remembered that incident in which Howl got in trouble while doing the grocery.

What she didn't know was that Lettie had also met the two women.

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Author's note: Sorry for being lazy and not updating this, but I'm taking extra care with it now that we are reaching the final chapters. References to previous chapters are going to happen from now on, so I recommend you to read them again in case you forgot something. Also, finally things are going to become clear, and some unexpected things are going to happen in the future.

Like some of you requested, the woman and the girl from Market Chipping strikes back! And it seems Lettie knows them too, but I'll only write about it on the next chapter to not spoil the fun.


	10. First Waltz

Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details references.

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First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

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Chapter 10: First Waltz

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Lettie noticed that a small agglomeration started to form where Howl and her sister were and nodded to Prince Justin. She was really nervous and afraid of anyone suspecting about their plan. Unfortunately, it seemed that Howl was born to call unnecessary attention.

Said wizard was now in front of Sophie, enjoying the discussion he was having with his old friend. Sophie, on the other hand, was torn between siding her love or just smack him in the head with her purse to see if he comes to his senses. As much as those two deserved to be terrorized by Howl, she didn't wish to call much attention either. Besides, her sister wasn't the kind of woman to raise her hand on any situation.

"Mom, it's that waitress!" she heard the daughter say in a mix of horror and disgust. "I wasn't wrong when I said she was lying about the prince inviting her."

When Sophie had figured out who that woman was and was about to snap at the smug-looking girl she heard her sister doing that for her.

"You are the liar here!"

Everyone turned to see Sophie Hatter and Prince Justin. Of course everyone knew how Sophie acted towards what she thought was not fair. But so did Lettie, Sophie knew. Still, she was afraid that Lettie might have forgotten that she was supposed to be impersonating someone else, so she quickly added her own comment to the argument.

"That makes you a liar as well, because it's clear that the prince chose my sister." She said, hoping Lettie had caught the hint.

"Not that you should complain, my sister. You've got a handsome man with you." Lettie quickly added, trying to sound like Sophie." But I just couldn't refuse an invitation made by a friend who I haven't seen for months, right?"

"No, I know the story between you three, I still can't believe Howl didn't kill Prince Justin yet, he seems to love you so much that he is afraid of losing you to anyone. I should thank Howl for being my pair today. And to think I used to be afraid of him..." Sophie added.

"And I love him as well. But I can't refuse a request from one of my best friends, can I?" Replied Lettie with Sophie's voice.

Howl always thought Lettie was one of those nave girls who only dreamed of her prince charming, but now deep inside he was thinking that he should have known better. They were talking about Sophie's sister, after all. He watched as they both managed to clear the situation for a good number of curious people and also let both daughter and mother speechless.

"Now, now, I DID want to blast this man when I've heard about the invitation, but Sophie would reprimand me for that." Howl said, joining the act and kind of scaring half the audience.

"Howl!" both Hatter sisters exclaimed.

"Howell Jenkins, I mean no harm to your person and our kingdom cannot afford to have one of our greatest wizards arrested for murder." Prince Justin joked. "I think we should join the others in the ballroom, Our Highness is already making his inauguration speech."

Indeed the king was already speaking and soon the four of them ignored the two women, who were still dizzy with all that had just happened. As they entered the ballroom they were greeted by a splendorous view of elegant dresses and hats illuminated by an enormous chandelier made of gold and crystals. On the main balcony the king and Madam Sulliman were waving to the crowd. Howl could immediately feel his former teachers gaze on him as he stepped inside. Of course he had also felt the warning magic that activated as his foot touched the shiny dance floor.

"And I would request Prince Justin to come to the center of the room and open the night with the first waltz!" the king declared. Heads turned to Prince Justin and Lettie, who followed the king's request, leaving Howl and Sophie behind.

"I feel Madam Sullimans gaze on us." commented the wizard without looking at his pair.

"So do I." said Sophie.

"I am also proud to announce that we have a very special guest here tonight. Although a polemic character our nation cannot forget his services during the war. I would like to ask Master Howell Jenkins, also known as Wizard Pendragon, to also join us on the first waltz."

Howl wasn't expecting to me mentioned by the king in public. Sophie was wondering if Howl was really born to just call attention wherever he goes.

"Howl, are you sure she cannot sense the change?" asked Sophie.

"Well, she didn't detect me when I disguised myself as the king."

"Are you sure? She didn't seem surprised when you turned back to yourself."

He smiled like a naughty kid. "Really, Miss Hatter, I've spent half of my apprenticeship time trying to scare that old woman. I had never accomplished that, but I know she hadn't noticed me because her magic power would have been pressing my own magical aura. It's what you could call an aggressive aura."

Wandering whether Howl referred to her like that as a way to annoy her or it was just acting as if she was Lettie, and not wanting to have a lecture about how wizards and witches could sense someone elses aggressive aura, Sophie opted to hold Howls hand and guide him to join the prince and her sister. It didn't matter if Madam Sulliman suspected about them or not, they couldn't do anything when all spotlights were on them.

"Orchestra, please, the first waltz!" announced a very merry king. As soon as he said that violins and flutes could be heard and Prince Justin did the first move.

Sensing a bit of nervousness between them, Sophie took Howls hand and smiled. "So, shall we start?"

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Surprisingly, Howl was dancing in such elegant manner that even Sophie couldn't help but be amazed at how he guided her with light movements. She even joked, asking if he charmed himself so he could dance well, but she knew better. That man was way too proud to consider that option, if it existed.

"Hahaha, but I cannot create abilities to myself, nor to anyone. It would be a bit too dangerous to mess with our brain to force it to learn abilities by magic, wouldn't it?" Howl whispered on Sophie's ear. The idea of messing with someones head sent shivers to her skin, it did sound really scary.

Prince Justin and Lettie were also giving quite a show next to them. Letties, or better, Sophies face seemed so radiant and the prince had a gentle expression on his.

"Howl, I can't believe you are doing so well so far. You look so confident, smiling." Whispered Sophie.

They did a turn, followed by a spin before their faces were near each one again. As they approached it other, Howl whispered in reply. "Actually I'm so afraid of making a mistake right now that I even forgot to keep an eye on Madam Sulliman" he said, his smile fading a little. "I think if we stop dancing my legs are going to be shaking more than a building in an earthquake" he said, showing a very embarrassed smile.

Sophie giggled at the comment. The first waltz was almost ending and nothing had happened so far. Glancing the balcony, she noticed that the queen had joined the king and both of them were enjoying the show. Madam Sulliman seemed to be content as well, but Sophie couldn't read her expression. She suspected something was going to happen though, because the Royal Witch had stood up from her usual wheelchair. Howl knew that his teacher was far from _needing_ a wheelchair.

"Huh... I've been wondering something, Howl."

"I know, it's taking an awful amount of time for she to make a movement."

"Yes, I wonder if she noticed something or she is just waiting for the right moment."

"I'm curious to the fact that, although we've been dancing for a while no one joined us. I wonder if dancing is part of the spell."

"Maybe they are waiting for the second dance, it's quite common to not dance the first waltz, and it's reserved for the important people."

Howl heard a strange noise, like a whistle, yet it seemed that only he sensed it. "I think she placed a spell on us right now. My ear caught a whistle that is common on spells that are music related."

"I didn't hear anything."

"That's why I think it was a spell, it was pretty loud to not be noticed by everyone else. Well, unless it was a spell itself."

"What should we do?" asked Sophie, trying to not let the others notice how worried she was while dancing.

"I can't sense any curse on us yet. It seems the spell needs something to trigger it."

The first waltz was almost reaching its end.

"Maybe...?"

"Yes." Both Howl and Madam Sulliman whispered so low that no one could hear their thought.

Both couples stopped dancing.

Time stopped for everyone in that room.

Howl could feel his heart skip a beat, as he and Sophie continued holding each other's hand. Letties eyes were looking to Sophie's face, and both could see that something was going on behind each other's eyes before a strong feeling, unknown to the two of them, was forced into them.

Then the last thing stopped too, as the violins ceased to sing.

And both young ladies fainted on their new lovers arms as the first waltz ended, oblivious to Howl's and Prince Justin's worried voices calling their names. The king quickly requested to everyone to open space for the two men. Howl took Lettie's body in his arms, wondering what kind of spell was really cast on them and hoping Madam Sulliman hadn't found out about their plan and decided to curse them with something else.

Followed by Prince Justin, who was carrying Sophie's unconscious body also, Howl was guided by one of Madam Sulliman's assistants to the hospital wing. Howl thought his teacher had a very sick mind to create her assistants similar to his child self, except for the blond hair. The three boys were all just magical beings without soul, and therefore had to be near their master to a certain degree, otherwise they would disappear. Yet, each one of them had an independent personality and mind, and were also conscious of themselves, so it was easy to mistake them for normal humans. Howl himself didn't like the idea to create an assistant like that, because once the master dies, so will they, and if the master got bored of them he could always make them disappear.

"It's almost like killing them. It's a sad existence." He had said once to Sophie. He preferred to teach an apprentice, no matter how much tiresome and patience he needed for that. Markl was like little brother to him.

They reached the hospital wing and placed both girls on a bed. The young assistant remained there, probably to keep an eye on them and report Madam Sulliman of anything suspicious.

"Don't they sleep or eat, those children?" asked Prince Justin to Howl. It was getting pretty late already.

"They do. Probably when this one falls asleep or need to eat another one will be sent to check on us."

"How cruel of her to make children work like that", the prince simply murmured. He did not know that those children were not even human, and that food and sleep was only a way for them to recharge the magic that maintained them alive without asking their master to do so for them.

Both glanced to the beds where Sophie and Lettie were now sleeping. The blue eyes of the assistant were still fixed on them.

"When will they wake up?" asked the prince.

Howl didn't turn his gaze from the beds.

"I don't know."

And so the first waltz of Howls life ended.

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Author's note: No, this is not the last chapter, of course, but you can tell by now that First Waltz is reaching its end. I wanted to update this story three months ago, but not only college simply took all my time but I've travelled in July, so I really didn't have time at all to write the waltz scene (the first half of the chapter was finished by the end of May). I did not beta-read this time, for many people already sent me email requesting the next chapter and, as you know, I dont have any beta-reader right now. So, if you find any mistakes, please do point them for me so I can fix it later.


	11. A new dance might begin

Author's notes: Aaah, I'm so stupid! I had half of the chapter written since December but then when college started again I hadn't had time to think about the story anymore… and now that I've come back for it… I notice that I DELETED THE FILE ACCIDENTALY while cleaning my folders to get more memory space… while that gives me the opportunity to write a better chapter I had to write EVERYTHING again, so I'm really sorry for making you all wait so much for the end of the story, but I hope you like this last chapter.

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Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle doesn't belong to me. Its original version belongs to Diana Wynne Jones and the movie version belongs to Hayao Miyasaki.

Note: This story is based on Miyasaki's movie and doesn't have any connection with the original book except for some names and small details and references.

* * *

First Waltz

By Eiko Makimachi

Chapter 11: A new dance might begin

* * *

"A paper crane?"

Three people were looking to a red origami paper crane on the top of the book that one of them was reading. Two of them didn't even know what an origami paper crane was, but the man who was standing next to them, holding a light top hat and a cane, took the little paper bird from the book. Surprisingly, it flapped its wings as if it was alive.

"Could it be… hers?"

"It can't be. I've heard she is quite busy tutoring the next magician to replace her."

"So, maybe it's… his?"

One of the girls, the one who was reading the book nodded. "Well, he was studying some oriental magic before all this mess had started, so it could be his."

The man with the top hat let the origami crane flap its wings once more before it decided to transform back to a clean, flawless red paper with golden writing on one of its sides. What was written in such fashion made the trio hold their breaths for a while:

"_It is safe now"_

* * *

They had spent months in a nice house near Howl's hometown. Said house had no connections to the moving castle and no magical devices, so it was impossible for any wizard to track them down. However, on the first week after the ball, Howl, who had fled with them but remained at his castle, told them it was necessary for to continue traveling until any sign of magic cast on them wore off. Of course, as he himself was wizard he could attract some attention, but he had managed to conceal his power from other magicians for ages and he hoped he could continue being successful on that issue.

The girls had woken up one day after the ball's incident and alleged to several people, including the servants, the king and Madam Sulliman, that they believed they had fainted because they hadn't eaten well that day. That silly excuse seemed to convince everyone, even Madam Sulliman. Apparently it was common for girls and young women to practically starve before those public events to lose weight and Madam Sulliman maybe expected that as one of the side effects of the magic she had cast one them was exactly what had happened, so no one seemed suspicious of what they had done. Ironically, while Lettie could be the kind of girl who WOULD starve for that (but she didn't need to) Sophie was exactly one of the few women that always ranted about how stupid and unhealthy that method of losing weight was.

In fact, neither Howl nor Prince Justin actually knew if Sophie and Lettie were well and still with their bodies switched until they actually exited the castle and returned home. Howl made sure to check carefully that they weren't harmed and still with their bodies switched. More importantly, the wizard had noticed that none of the girls had shown any signs of behavior change. That could only mean their plan had worked, since any love spell or potion is useless when the victim is already in love with the target.

They followed their plan and they went with Sophie, who was still in Lettie's body, to Cesary's the next day. Lettie had to explain to her boss that Prince Justin had invited her and her sister for a trip, concerned about their health. The presence of the prince himself avoided any question about the subject.

"I think they need to take some fresh air from the mountains and rest, the cities have been too stressful and polluted recently. I am always worried about the safety of my dear Sophie and I could not let any harm come to her or her sister." He simply stated.

Lettie's boss had heard about what had happened on the ball and understood that his best employee's health was more important. However, he was reluctant to let her go first, until Howl, who had transformed into a girl, appeared.

"Oh, there is no need to worry, my friend Olette agreed to take my place while I am gone. She helps her parents during the afternoon but she can come every morning. She needs some extra money anyway.

Sophie had to try very hard to not laugh when Howl said in a very girlish tone "I hope I won't be a burden to you, sir. Lettie is a good friend to me, she always helped me when I was in need, now it's my time to help her." Whether it was because Howl had the good sense to disguise as a cute, innocent-looking girl or because Lettie's boss really liked Lettie, he didn't question any further and accepted "Olette" as a temporary employee. To make it even more believable, Howl had changed once again one of the castle doors so it would look like a small two-level house, with a small store on the first floor. "Olette's house" apparently was also her "dad's little pharmacy".

When they returned home a bit of fear, anxiety and sadness mixed with relief took the hearts of everyone. Next day it was the day in which the Hatters and the prince would depart. However, reason was stronger in the end, and, once the sun started once again to light the starless sky the trio bid farewell and left Howl and Markl alone in the castle, the rest of the residents of the moving castle still sleeping.

* * *

"No, I don't think this will look good."

"Oh, don't be stupid, you look like a princess!"

It was once again time for the flowers bloom at the kingdom, for once again it was spring. But all the towns seemed to have more flowers than the usual. Petals could be seen flying everywhere, covering the streets like a colorful carpet.

Little had changed at Market Chipping, except for some things. The first thing that everyone would point out was that the local pharmacy had closed and the family that used to live there had moved to another country, which was a pity because the bearded little old man and his daughter used to sell really good medicine. Of course the girl was a bit strange, her dog was always following her everywhere and she didn't like to go out after work with her co-workers. Maybe she was too shy or scared to walk alone at night, because she always went straight home after finishing her job.

On the other hand, people at Market Chipping were happy to know that the Hatters were reopening their hat shop after years, exactly where the pharmacy used to be. Since the end of the war the store had been closed and sold. The only one that wasn't so happy was the owner of Cesary's, because he had lost one of his best employees. Yet, he was happy for the girl.

At the capital the only thing that changed was the new royal wizard, a gentleman with blond hair and blue eyes that was chosen among all the wizards of the country to replace Madam Sulliman, who, after centuries had passed away peacefully. As if she knew she was going to die sooner or later, she was very worried into finding a new apprentice, since her last one, Howell Jenkins, fled after a disagreement between them and refused to take the role of royal wizard. Ironically the one she selected was very similar to how her servants looked like, except the way he dressed made him look like a harlequin, not to mention the teardrop marks he had under his eyes.

But the reason why all towns had so many petals that year was because lots of flower ornaments were placed everywhere. It was in a very beautiful spring day that Prince Justin married the second daughter of the Hatters, Lettie Hatter, and everyone made flower bouquets to celebrate it. He had proposed to her a few months after their return to Market Chipping, and after one year of preparations they were finally getting married. She was dressed all in white, with little pink details that matched the faint rosy petals of her bouquet. Once the couple kissed, it was like a happy ending from a fairy tale becoming true. Lettie indeed looked like the princess she had become, with the delicate golden tiara that, after much persuasion from her older sister, she agreed to wear.

After the wedding, a ball was held at the castle. That brought back many memories, because it had been over a year that the royal family had held a public ball. And, once more, the one that called more attention at the crows was Wizard Howl, but this time it was because he cast light to all the pink flowers, illuminating the whole city with bright orange light and surprising everyone with such beautiful scene. While not officially the royal wizard and still with a couple of bad rumors under his feet, Howl was now known for being in good terms with the prince and a fair amount of people begun to accept that he was in fact a good person.

The royal wizard conjured magical instruments to play the first waltz, and of course the first ones to dance were the groom and the bride. They charmed everyone, dancing surrounded by the magical flowers that seemed follow their steps with their flickering orange light.

As soon as the first waltz ended, the newly married couple invited Howl and Sophie to dance as well. They hadn't danced since that incident, and while they had practiced once more before the wedding Sophie was a bit nervous. Howl, on the other hand, seemed to be comfortable enough with the current situation. And as soon as the second waltz started, it was clear enough that Howl not only had learned to waltz, but had also learned how to lead in a very graceful way. Sophie felt like she was doing the sky stroll once more, even though her feet told her she was still stepping on the polished floor of the ballroom.

Dancing never felt so good for her, and while this was her sister's special day, she felt like today was a special day for her as well. It was rare for her to not have anything to worry about. The waltz was a short one, but for her it could have lasted forever. She didn't dare and didn't wish to break the eye contact with Howl, who smiled in such a charming and reassuring way that it only made her want to stay with him like this for the eternity.

"Sophie… " She suddenly heard. The waltz was almost reaching its end.

"What, Howl?"

"… I've never asked this to you before but…"

"…"

"… I hope we will have other waltz to dance in our life… and that you'll be my partner on this eternal dance… forever."

Just when the second waltz ended, she could hear only one whisper, even though everyone in the ballroom was taking loudly and clapping. Soon another waltz would start, and life would continue on. But to her, that one whisper was soft and so shy that if she hadn't paid attention she wouldn't have heard it, and it seemed as if time had stopped when Howl opened his mouthg to say:

"Will you marry me?'

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Sorry for the abrupt ending, and I did try to beta read myself, but I've been busy lately so some mistakes might have passed through. I hope you've enjoyed reading this story, and once again I'm very sorry for not finishing it earlier.


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